Jen Chillingsworth - Clean Green: Tips and Recipes for a Naturally Clean, More Sustainable Home

Publishing Director Sarah Lavelle

Commissioning Editor Harriet Butt

Series Designer Gemma Hayden

Junior Designer Alicia House

Illustrator Amelia Flower

Head of Production Stephen Lang

Production Controller Nikolaus Ginelli

Published in 2020 by Quadrille, an imprint of Hardie Grant Publishing

Quadrille

5254 Southwark Street

London SE1 1UN

quadrille.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders. The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Text Jen Chillingsworth 2020

Illustrations Amelia Flower 2020

Design and layout Quadrille 2020

eISBN 978 1 78713 503 1

Contents

Walk along any cleaning aisle in a supermarket and you will find a vast range of products on offer. From ironing water, laundry whiteners and floral-scented disinfectants to antibacterial surface wipes, there is a cleaning product for every conceivable problem area in the home. I used to love exploring the cleaning aisle, often enticed by the intriguing perfume combinations that promised the aroma of springtime, ocean breeze or fresh linen. My kitchen cupboards groaned with bottles, sprays and wipes, yet I would always buy more, eager to try something new. I never took any time to consider the amount of plastic I was buying, or that the cloths I used released tiny microfibres into the water supply or that the sponges I bought ended up in landfill. When I decluttered my cleaning cupboard, I was stunned to find I had almost thirty of those pesky laundry detergent washing balls lurking in the back. I had never paid the slightest attention to any of it.

Everything changed for me when I was admitted to hospital after accidentally inhaling a bleach-based cleaning product. Even though I had followed the instructions carefully, worn rubber gloves and ventilated the room well, the strength of the product had overwhelmed my system. Thankfully I was okay, but this incident made me question what was in these products, and what I was regularly exposing my family to as well. Out went the toxic products made from unpronounceable chemical combinations and synthetic fragrances and I made the switch to greener commercial alternatives.

Our homes should be the haven we retreat to at the end of a busy day, provide us with comfort during the dark, cold days of winter and be a place where we can nurture our loved ones. We want to keep our homes clean, yet many of us are regularly exposing ourselves and our families to high levels of indoor air pollution simply by using a cleaning product or spraying an air freshener. Before I changed to greener products, my home was full of toxins that I didnt think twice about. In the kitchen, I would wash my dishes with a regular dishwashing liquid, Id fill the washing machine with liquid detergent and fabric conditioner, disinfect the kitchen floor and wipe down all the surfaces with an antibacterial wipe which Id then throw in the rubbish bin. Every time I vacuumed the living-room carpet, Id sprinkle a little carpet-cleaning powder over it first. The plug-in air freshener would repeatedly release a jasmine and honeysuckle scent and Id burn scented candles made from paraffin wax. The bathroom would be cleaned with a power cleaning spray, the toilet would be bleached, and Id fight an endless battle trying to get the mildew out of the shower curtain. All these products were releasing harmful toxins into my home and we were breathing them in every single day.

Look at the back of any commercial cleaning product and some of the first words you will see are caution or danger, often followed by an exclamation mark. These are not only warnings regarding your safety and wellbeing; they are also highlighting the harm they can do to the environment. Many of the ingredients in these products are derived from non-renewable sources like petroleum, and they are not biodegradable. When we do laundry, we are releasing synthetic chemicals and tiny microfibres into the water supply, where they can be ingested by marine life and potentially enter the human food chain. Burning candles made from paraffin fills our indoor air with synthetic fragrances and fumes that are comparable to those from a diesel engine. Air fresheners, glass cleaners, furniture polish and even wet wipes release harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds), such as formaldehyde, into the air in the home, which can lead to serious health conditions in the short and long term. Waste products like sponges, scouring pads and blue cleaning cloths are all made from plastic and take hundreds of years to break down. Toilet and cleaning wet wipes get flushed down the toilet where they can end up causing severe damage to sewage systems.

As I researched deeper into the green alternatives, I discovered that there were even better, healthier choices to commercial green cleaning products and there were some great ways to cut down on waste, too. Both play a vital role in cleaning the home naturally and in helping to reduce our environmental impact. I clean my home very differently now. I make most of my own natural cleaning products, I buy reusable tools that are biodegradable or compostable, and I look to reduce my waste as much as possible too. Lets be honest cleaning is not fun, but it doesnt have to complicated. In this book youll find simple, practical ideas to help you green clean your home. From laundry detergent and furniture polish to making your own natural air freshener, they are easy to make and they work. They are not expensive, and many will save you money in the long term. Every recipe I make uses only a few ingredients and you will find many of them in your local supermarket or easily available online. Ive detailed each individual ingredient in the first section of this book so you can be clear on what role it plays in the recipes that follow.

Its important to add that we are all at different stages of our lives or have different needs and not everyone can make all their own cleaning supplies. Accessibility, work or family commitments often take up a lot of our resources, energy and time. If this is you, then why not begin with one or two of the ideas in this book that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine? I believe small steps lead to big changes and every single change can only be a good thing for our wellbeing and the wider environment.

Getting organized

It isnt always easy to keep on top of cleaning your home. Life is busy and sometimes we let things slide. I used to leave all the cleaning in my home until the weekend, cramming it all in between running to the grocery store and taking my son on playdates or visiting family. Everything was done in a haphazard manner with no planning and there were always things I missed. Consequently, I often resorted to using stronger products to shift the grime.